Agent Oregon
by RTfics
Summary: Agent Oregon is part of the third wave of Agents to join project freelancer. Join him in his adventures against the insurrectionist and covenant forces he faces. Cause it's always fun to smash so Elite face in.
1. 1: Calm before the storm

Up down spin kick repeat, up down spin kick repeat, up down spin kick repea-

"Really Oregon? Still training at this hour?" Asked a voice from behind me. I stopped and turned, seeing a freelancer in all white armour. Wyoming, who was one of the only older freelancers who actually respected me. I sighed and turned my back on the sparring AI that the director had suggested we used, I for one though they were about as useful as the stationary clay targets we had. All they could do was keep their arms squared and send a right handed jab or left handed hook every few moments, it was easy to find the pattern and I had already broken seven in three hours. I turned his attention to Wyoming, the older man's hand straying to his luxurious moustache. I chuckled, and cocked my head to the side,

"And what hour might that be dear old Wyoming?" He raised his arm and pulled back the sleeve on his black cotton shirt to look at his watch,

"Exactly one thirty seven AM young chap!" He responded grinning from one tip of his moustache to the other.

"Well you seem to be up aswell," I bantered back extracting a laugh from his lips.

"Only because I was woken up by _your_ training alarm, since you weren't in the room, I figured you were here." My lips quirked up, "And I was right," He added.

"Well aren't you a britty detective." He shook his head, taking on a slightly more serious expression,

"You really should rest Ore, you have a match against Alaska tomorrow and if you want any chance at winning, you need to be well rested."

I shook my head but his expression turned light again, knowing that he had won the discussion I nodded pulling my helmet off and smiling at him, though the smile didn't quite reach my eyes.

The blaring sound of my alarm shook me awake, I groaned and opened my eyes, Wyoming was stepping out of our washroom a towel tied around his waist.

"You better get yourself up if you want to eat anything mate," I turned and looked at the clock on my dressed and rolled out of bed, already pulling off the shirt I had used as pajamas as I headed to the bathroom Reggie had left. _Not reggie,_ I scolded myself internally, just because I knew him before the project didn't mean I could call him by his name. I wasn't even supposed to know about him. I closed and locked the bathroom door behind me looking at myself in the mirror, I noticed that even though it had only been in the project about four months, and my body was remarkably bigger than it had been the first day I found himself looking in my mirror(Even if I was still huge when I joined). I shook the train of thought away, running a tired hand through my curly blond hair, well it really was more of an ivory colour than blond. It was strange but so were his eyes. They were yellow, not like a cats but a pale yellow with specks of brown in them. I chuckled at my strange appearance and turned the shower on, not waiting for the water to warm up before I stepped in. I shuddered as the cold drops shifted to hot pellets in a matter of seconds. I welcomes the warmth and I began leaning backwards, still not used to the short showerhead. I banged my head on it and stumbled forwards slightly rubbing the agitated area on the back of my head. These showers were too damn small, these bathrooms were too damn small, these living quarters were too damn small! I wasn't used to it. At my previous house everything had been made to suite me, so it was tall. I was quite well.. big. I was 6,6. Tallest of the project(besides from Maine who was two inches taller than him), and weighed in at a strong 234 pounds, though I doubt an inch of it was extra skin. It was all muscle. I knew people look at me like some kind of giant monster, hell I heard them talking about it but it's not like I could help it! It's the way I was built! Same thing for Maine I imagine.

I turned around and turned the knob for the shower making the water recede to a slow drip. I climbed out and grabbed a towel, running it through my hair then drying my body. I tied the towel around my waist and left the room. Wyoming had left so I was alone to change. I pulled on my polyester bodysuit and jogged to the cafeteria. I tapped my hand against my leg impatiently. While trying to ignore everyone's stares, (I suppose I was the only one in the polyester uniform, but even the other freelancers were staring! I mean they wore it all the time!) I shook my head as the lunch lady offered me juice.

"Just buttered toast please." I muttered with a somewhat urgent undertone. She nodded and walked into the kitchen. A few moments later she came back out and handed a piece of buttered toast to me. I nodded gratefully and shoved it into my mouth as I began to run the the men's locker room. I supposed I didn't want to fight Alaska but he was being a jerk and needed to be taught a lesson, I mean he made fun of Florida when he got injured in battle! That man was the sweetest person I knew. He didn't deserve to be ridiculed. Plus, as third wavers, we were supposed to respect the veterans of the project. I jogged into the locker room and over to my locker. Expertly putting in the combination to my lock I swung the small door open with a bit more force than I intended. I knew I was nervous. I was huge that's true but Alaska was skilled. Really skilled. I grabbed my infiltrator armour, it was a dark blue with yellow highlights, personally I loved the colours together. I began putting it on, starting with the chest piece on. It fell into place and I put my codpiece on. Then came my shin pieces, the boots, the bracers and the gloves. I finally grabbed my helmet from my locker and tucked it under my arm.

"Agents Alaska and Oregon please report to the training room for your scheduled match in ten minutes." The motherly robot, FILSS. I smiled, I liked her and I suspected she liked me. Well if AI of her intelligence level could like people. As I made my way out of the locker room Alaska walked in. I could tell he was glaring at me under the black visor of his pure forest green deadeye armour. As he walked by me he shoved his shoulder into mine. _Gosh!_ He was so damn rude! I had had enough.

"Hey!" I called after him. I sensed him tense and turn to face me,

"What is it you gigantic idiot?" He snarled at me.

"Save you anger for the match." I snapped back, I didn't want to fight him here. It wouldn't end well and I suspected that we'd both be in large amounts of trouble, but I doubted I'd be able to stop myself.

"Or what?" He replied, his voice full of acid. I was beginning to smile.

"Or there won't be a match." A said in a factual voice, that at least _I_ though was threatening.

"Why not, you finally going to give in to you nature and run away you little baby?" I could feel the anger building up inside me. I hated when I got like this, In battle I wasn't usually like this. Unless I was mad, normally in battle I was calm.

"No because I'll bash your skull in so hard, your brain won't be able to send the proper signals to get your body to move to get to the match." I retorted beginning to draw myself up, using my high as what I hoped would be a scare tactic. He paused for a moment, but I wasn't a complete idiot, his hand was inching towards hi magnum at his waist. I was about to spring on him, I would have if Maine hadn't walked in. I was thankful but at the same time disappointed. I wanted to rip his spine out in private so the other agents couldn't stop me.

"Hey guys," He seemed to notice the tension between us, I mean I was breathing heavier than an angry bear and Alaska was absolutely heaving with rage. "Uh you two should really get to the training room, the match is starting soon.." His voice trailed off and I nodded reluctantly, slightly stiff.

"Right, see you there Alaska." I put as much acid into the last word that I could and I turned and left the room. I made my way to the training room, eager to sweat out the anger coursing through my veins. When I finally got in the arena I went to my side and eagerly looked over the table that had the weapons on it. I grabbed two laser headed tomahawks. Of course the laser only set your armour into lockdown mode. That's why it was laser, so we didn't kill our team mates. I put the tomahawks on my back, then grabbed a magnum and a saw, I quickly grabbed two grenades and backed away from the table, it began to slowly sink into the ground and Alaska came into the room and simply picked up a battle sniper rifle and a knife. Strange choice of weapons but I suppose to each their own.

"You ready for this Al?" He saw Alaska flinch as he used a shortened version of his name. It sent temporary glee through me and I pulled out my saw checking to make sure it was loaded.

"You really should be asking yourself that Oregon." He snapped back. I grinned and cracked my neck, I looked up at the observation room and noted in surprise that many vet agents were actually there, including North, South, Maine York, and even Carolina. Flowers was cheering loudly enough that I could somewhat hear him through the glass separating us. I was pretty sure that all of the third wave agents were there. Even some techies and regular soldiers were there watching. It made me momentarily happy. But then I saw Alaska's green armour and the content was chased away by fury.

"Alright bad boy, let's get this party started." I grinned under my helmet, "Start the match FILSS!" I called to the AI.

"Certainly!" She replied in her usual upbeat tone, "Rules will go as followed, first to get hit three times by either blade or paint losses." She listed the rules that we had all grown accustomed to.

"Setting up moving defences," She spoke to herself as blocks started to rise and fall all around us at a low steady speed, the pattern was seemingly untraceable. "Starting training match in Three… Two… One… Begin!" I had lost sight of him at this point and I imagine he had lost sight of me aswell. I made my way into the maze of blocks slowly.

I grinned to myself, this… Was going to be _fun_.


	2. 2: Lots of training

I ducked behind a pillar which was temporarily up. My breathing was heavy as the I checked his saw once again, if it jammed up I would lose . I needed to beat Alaska. I needed to win. Not only for Florida or even to teach Alaska respect, but because Alaska was one spot above me on that damn list. Well, not in the top eight of course. I wasn't good enough to be on the top list displayed to everyone, but on my personal list (The one sent to him by the counselor). I was in 12th out of 20, but Alaska was 11th. I would not stand behind someone who was worse and quite honestly smaller than me.

 _BANG_

I looked up and saw paint on the side of the pillar I was hiding behind and dove behind another pillar, I felt a paint bullet whiz by my shoulder as hit the ground and rolled behind a pillar breathing heavier than before. I quickly ducked out from my cover and shot a burst in the direction his bullets were coming. I waited a few moments, no sound. I looked at my motion sensor, no red dot. He was hiding, possibly reloading. I put my saw on my back and pulled my pistol out and grabbed a grenade from my side and threw it at an area that I hoped was near him. Movement on my motion tracker, he was moving in the direction of the sound, I hadn't pulled the pin so it just sounded like I dropped something. _Perfect_. I moved forward as quietly as I could, walking as slow as I could while still moving. It was a bug that good old Minnesota had found, if you moved slow enough the motion trackers couldn't pick you up. Finally I saw him, He had a shotgun in his hand and his back was to me. He was searching for the grenade I had thrown. I couldn't help but grin inside my helmet. I simply raised my gun up and shot him thrice in his neck, it would help in the future, the paint would stop him from turning his head making him an easier target.

"Point to agent Oregon." FILLS called out over the speakers overhead. I saw Alaska grab the paint on the back of his neck and rip half of it off, cracking all of it. _So much for that_. But still, I was winning now. This was the lead I needed, this point, he's angry, next point he's discouraged, and the point after that? I've won. I turned around and sprinted back off into the maze of pillars, hearing his angry shouts and gunfire behind me.

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING SNEAK!" I dove to my right as a block rose in front of me and paints splattered onto it. That was close. There was a shudder and the block I was hiding behind started shrinking down. It was finally short enough for me to jump onto it. I pulled myself up onto it a tore a tomahawk off my back. I pulled my arm back and then shot it forwards, it flew towards the back of his right shoulder, I was already getting a second point. I threw my arms up to quick because he turned left, narrowly avoiding the blade of the autolocking weapon. He snatched it out of the air and continued on with the current of the speed and tossed it back up at me. It stuck me square in the chest sending me backwards off the block and into the ground. I saw a translucent energy go over my screen and I groaned, these things hurt like a bitch. I faintly heard FILSS in the background announcing Alaska's point.

The tomahawk's handle fell to the side as the red laser shrunk away. I heard a _swoosh_ and suddenly I could move again. I jumped to my feet and saw him reloading his gun while running towards me, a foolish move. I took my magnum out while running towards him and shot three rounds, he dodged each one bullet but it was enough, I was close. I practically threw my magnum onto it's holster and yanked my last tomahawk from my back aiming to hit him in the neck. He went to shoot my arm, I spun away. Sadly not quick enough to stop him from shooting my weapon from my hand. I snarled and threw a left handed punch towards his face. He caught it and tried to twist it outwards, luckily for me I knew how to defend myself from that. I turned around going with the motion of the twist as well as grabbing his wrist with my right hand and pulling him over my head. I slammed him into the pillar that was behind me. Shattered concrete fell onto the training room floor as he stuck into the block and I drew my fist back and punched him in the visor sending him through the block and into the next one. I smiled as I saw his armour lock up and a spiderweb of cracks grew across his helmet's visor.

"Point Oregon." The AI's voice boomed over the speakers and I regained myself. I had one grenade left, my magnum with three rounds left, I hadn't bothered taking any extra clips for it, perhaps not my best idea. But I still had my SAW, and I could destroy with that baby. Alaska was only now starting to get back up and I had an idea, a somewhat cowardly one but an idea nonetheless. I took my last grenade from my belt and pulled the pin out and rolled it towards a dizzy looking alaska.

I took off in the opposite direction the taking a sharp right then another right hoping to hoop back around and catch him in his panic. I saw him through the pillars and I doubled my speed sprinting faster that I thought I could. Finally we both passed the last pillar and he turned his head to the right I could only imagine his look of surprise as I turned my right shoulder to him slightly. When I made contact he flew back onto his back. He got back to his feet slowly and I kicked him in his chest sending him stumbling back. He raised his assault rifle put I knocked it out of the way with my saw and then brought my right fist up, hooking it under his helmet causing his head to snap up, that move revealed his neck and I shot a burst into the soft material that covered the spartan suit's neck. The paint began to harden immediately sending a wave of relief mixed with joy and surprisingly with anger. It's true I won but he deserved a more humiliating end. I shrugged my anger off and raised my hands cheering taking on my usual happy demeanor. I supposed I was somewhat unstable since my two moods were so happy I seem high or so angry I might snap and kill everyone. But I prefered the earlier. But I shook my head again taking my helmet off and grinning letting out a 'whoop' and throwing my helmet into the air and catching it.

"Match won, winner agent Oregon." FILLS called out, "Ending fighting session." The large blocks began to sink down and when one next to me was at about shoulder level I put my helmet on it and walked towards Alaska, Once I was next to him most of the pain that had froze him had melted off and he was pulling the sticky pink substance off. I put my hand out towards him, offering him help up. He simply stared at me and muttered something I couldn't quite hear.

"What?" I asked, oblivious to the fact that he was mad.

"I said, fuck off you lumbering giant." He snapped venomously. I was taken aback, I thought we had settled it, after all my brother used to say, ' _The best way to solve a conflict is a good old fisticuff.'_ I agreed, after all it's the best way to teach someone manners, but Alaska was just being rude. I shook my head,

"Can't we at least try to be civil? It's settled alright." It wasn't fair that he was being like this, his hand inched towards his holster where his magnum rested.

"Back up before I knock you down" He snarled. I slowly backed away and picked my helmet up, I suppose not everyone would like me. Sadly. I walked off towards the locker room. When I stepped inside I set my helmet down on one of the benches and began taking my helmet off throwing the dirty pieces into a bin full of dirty and smashed up armour. I went into the guy's shower room and showered off the sweat that had accumulated over my body even though the air conditioning on my armour worked.

I turned off the shower and grabbed up a towel then headed towards my locker and grabbed a Project freelancer shirt and a pair of Jeans and threw them on over my polyester suit quickly then headed towards the cafeteria receiving congratulations and slaps on the back from fellow freelancers as I walked past them, it was a nice feeling being recognized for doing something good and not messing up for once. I walked into the cafeteria and headed towards the food line which was empty now, I wanted a proper breakfast, after all it was the most important meal of the day. I got a plate and heaped scrambled eggs, bacon and six pancakes onto it and went to sit down next to Michigan and California.

West Virginia stared at me with a look of mixed awe and shock,

"How do you eat that much? I'm stuffed after I eat two of these pancakes! They're so heavy!" She shook her head and munched on a piece of bacon. I couldn't help but grin, she was wearing a tank top and sweatpants, she was gorgeous. A strong cheekbone mixed with her blue blond hair all put together in her 5,7 body. I was shaken out of my thoughts as East Virginia came and sat down between us, they were brother and sister, him being three years older. It wasn't that he was mean, he just wasn't nice, as well as being quite protective of his sister whom he shared many looks with, like her he had blond hair and blue eyes but he had more of a jawbone that cheekbones.

"I weight two times what you weight and am more than a foot taller than you. I think it makes sense darling West," I replied in kidding voice drawing a grin from her.

"Well the extra weight sure as hell payed off, I watched your fight against Alaska, those were some serious close combat skills you've got, you colossal man." Cal said, turning my attention towards him.

"What can I say, I'm good with my heavy weaponry but I was originally training it hand to hand combat," I replied simply, he grinned like cheshire the cat,

"And who trained you?" I couldn't help it.

"Master Yoda of course!" I replied not being able to keep a straight face I laughed and looked across the table to see North sitting down.

"Oh hey there North!" I exclaimed upon seeing him. "What're you doing here? I thought you South and Wyoming were being stationed at Valhalla for a week or so?" I muttered not exactly excited that Wyoming was leaving. He nodded,

"We are, but we're only scheduled to leave later today, anyways how you feeling after that fight hey?" North was nice, never to prying but always there for you. I could have considered a deeper friendship but he was just to calm for me. I need people who could keep up with my energy, and North just wasn't that person. South would have been a better match for the position as my friend if she wasn't so damn angry all the time. But to each their own. He gobbled up the last of his pancakes and went to work on his stack of bacon. He heard West scoff,

"I can almost feel the heart attack coming on Ore, seriously chill on the bacon or you're gonna get diabetes." North's eyebrows furrowed though the corner of his lips quirked up slightly,

"You go saying things like that and it'll happen West." He muttered only half serious.

"Then Ore seriously you need to get me a golden plated sniper rifle." She grinned and stood up ruffling her older brother's hair. "I know you just fought but care to join me for some sparring?" I considered the request for a few moments and decided that one match wasn't enough practice.

"Sure thing West" I put on my best smile and stood up leaving my plate behind to be cleared away by the Janitor. We walked side by side in silence, I suppose she was mentally preparing herself for the ass whooping I was about to deliver. Okay maybe I was being a little harsh there, I just know that sniping is her thing, not hand to hand combat. 'Maybe I could be her Yoda! Well actually no, I'm not green or little, and my hair game is a lot better than his. Plus if I was Yoda I wouldn't be able to date her. Wow okay that was an unexpected though. Let's not have one of those again, West is just my friend.' I thought to myself I shook away the thoughts as we finally entered the training room, I unlocked my locker and took out the freshly cleaned armour that whoever cleaned the armour must have put there. I put it on, the same movements I had gotten used to ever the past few months.

"You ready to be owned Ore?" She said in a cocky voice, I smirked under my helmet.

"Woah are you talking to yourself West? I mean I know you said my name but that doesn't make sense, I'm going to pound you into the ground." She grinned at me,  
"Yeah you did" She replied barely able to contain her laughter. I burst out laughing,

"What ever Virginia, just don't be too down when I win." She shook her head silently as we left the locker room, walking side by side once again towards the arena. We entered and I walked to the far side. The weapon tables began to lift up.

"Send them down FILSS, we're only sparring. That means no pillars." I called out to the AI.

"Absolutely agent Oregon." The tables shrunk down and were engulfed by the floor. "Match Starting in, 3, 2, 1, Match begin!" The not so smart Artificial intelligence said.

Immediately me and West began sprinting at each other, he left fist raised and my right one raise, Our two fists connected but before she could back away I sent a left handed jab into her solar plexus and she let out an _ouf!_ and bent over from the force of it. I grabbed her head and brought it down onto my knee. I felt a little bad when I noticed the glass fall down onto my knee and clink onto the floor. She fell off my knee and her head hit the floor. I bit my lip worriedly and knelt down to check if she was okay. Before I could react she reached up and grabbed my helmet pulling it down and smashing it into the ground. My head knocked against my helmet, making blood begin to flow out of my nose. I let out a groan and flipped myself onto my feet coming face to face with West once again. I could see her grin since half of her visor was smashed up.

"What's wrong Ore? It's not my fault you fell for my twix!" She joked hopping between her two legs. I let out a low growl and lunged forwards going for a Haymaker, she sidestepped and pushed me causing me to stumble and fall to my knees. Before I knew it she had me in a full nelson and was picking my up. I reached back and grabbed her head, flipping her over my head. She landed on her back and I lunged onto of her, my legs on either side of her hips raining blows down onto her face. She grabbed my chest piece and flipped me under her and began raining punches onto me, I raised my arms to block the punches, she had hit my forearms so many times my armour was beginning to dent. I grinned maybe I could use her trick against her. I let one arm down and a blow fell onto my head. It hurt but it was enough. I dropped my arms and let myself go slack as if I had been punched out. She jumped to her feet and exclaimed in glee. I grabbed her ankle and yanked and she fell forwards and smashed onto her head onto the floor. I got up and jumped, letting all my weight go to my elbow as I smashed it into her neck. As I got up she was twitching slightly, I poked her with my foot making sure she actually was down.

"Match Oregon." FILSS's robotic voice boomed out over head. I finally let myself cheer then bent down and flipped her onto her back to make sure she was okay.

"You good West?" An edge of concern on my voice. Her closed eyes cracked open and she stuck her tongue out.

"Jerk" She muttered. I let out a relieved sigh and stood up offering her my hand. She grabbed it and I pulled her to her feet, and she took her helmet off shaking the remaining pieces of broken glass.

"You never answered, you okay?" I asked as I took my helmet off as well. She nodded,

"My nose is a little sore from when you slammed my face on your knee, but I'm okay." I nodded in understanding and we left the arena through the door that lead to the locker room. Once we got into the locker room and I threw my helmet into the bin near the leader board.

Carolina

Arkansas

York

Wyoming

North Dakota

Maine

South Dakota

Washington

I was proud that we actually had a third wave freelancer on the maine leaderboard. Wash was quite skilled, but I had a feeling I could beat him if it came to a fight. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. I took off the rest of my armour and threw them into the bin with my helmet as I had done after my fight with Arkansas. A one helmet with white trims flew by me into the bin. I turned to look at her, she had all her armour off and she was in her polyester suit we all wore under our armour. I was as well. It really did her justice, it fit the curves of her hips and legs. I smiled to myself and looked down at the floor for a few moments then walked over to my locker.

"So Ore, did you end up checking the leaderboards after your fight?" I could tell West was just trying to make conversation because this silence was somewhat awkward. But in reality, I did forget to check.

"No actually, I didn't, I'll do that now." I jogged across the room to my locker and opened it. I saw my tablet and grabbed it, turning it on and scrolling to the leaderboard.

Carolina

Arkansas

York

Wyoming

North Dakota

Maine

South Dakota

Washington

Florida

Oregon

Massachusetts

Alaska

East Virginia

West Virginia

New Mexico

Pennsylvania

California

New Jersey

Kentucky

Nebraska

I had gone up two spots on the leaderboard. This was amazing I was two spots away from the main leaderboard.

"I'm tenth!" I exclaimed and I looked at her to see her expression.

"Wow really? You went up two! That's amazing she bounded across the room and hugged me. I stiffened she was so close…

I pulled back slightly and looked at her face. I couldn't help it, I was spontaneous. What the hell, I leaned forwards and kissed her. It was her turn to stiffen, but she relaxed slightly and leaned into the kiss. I drew back my eyes glacy

"I- I'm sorry West I-" She sealed my lips with a kiss and smiled,

"Don't worry about it." She muttered against my lips. "Don't worry about it."


	3. 3: His first mission

******AN: I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get this out, I've been super busy with finals and plus there's been a bunch of Christmas parties which sorta sucked. Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone!**

She was pressed against her dorm's walls, he legs wrapped around my hips as I ran my fingers through her hair my mouth pressed passionately against hers. She bit down on my lip sending waves of pleasure through me. The only way we actually could kiss was if I bent down a _lot_ or if I picked her up, so that's what I did. There was a knock on the door and I quickly set her down straightening myself out. She was fixing her hair as Pennsylvania walked in. He saw us and raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I-We-" I tried to come up with an excuse for the fact that our faces were red and we were panting.

"Oregon was just leaving. He wanted some tips on close combat fighting." She smirked at me as I left the room in embarrassment. I heard them talking quietly until her room's door slowly swooshed shut, I pushed my back against the wall and sank to the ground. _What had just happened…_ I shook my head and stood up. Sadly I only noticed then that Florida had been standing a few feet from me observing my behavior which would look strange from anyone who didn't know what was happening.

"You okay Oregon?" Asked the kind, older man. I stood up and nodded at him curtly,

"Yessir," I replied in a somewhat sharper voice than I had intended,

"Alright you seem a little tussled is all." He replied in a defensive tone. _Damn!_ I hadn't meant to upset him… "Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me against that nasty little Alaska fellow." I nodded, an appreciative gesture I didn't quite feel. I wanted to talk to West, discuss what had just happened but I couldn't do that, It would be best if there was space between us so no one would assume anything. No that wouldn't do at all.

"No problem. He needed to be taught some respect." I muttered as I stood up, "Listen I need to go uh.. Train. Yeah I need to train. I'll see you later Florida." I took off down the hall. I needed to get my feelings out, the confusions, the hurt, the excitement. Everything. I was sprinting down the hall when I knocked into Wyoming, I hadn't seen him since I had been looking down.

"Ah! There you are ol' chap! I've been looking for you everywhere!" I stopped and let my breath regulate itself. "You alright? You look like you just fought a tank!" He exclaimed. I couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah I just… Training.." He nodded.

"Alright well I just wanted to tell you that we're leaving. We'll be back in about a week. So you'll have the room all to yourself, enjoy mate." He walked by and clapped a hand on my shoulder. Then I was off again, sprinting towards the training room once again. I was almost at the training room when FILSS's voice rang out over the speakers.

"Would agent's Carolina, Nevada, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Oregon please report to the planning room." I stopped in my tracks, I suppose an actual mission would be better than training. I ran into the locker room and quickly put my armour on. I couldn't be late. I ran back off towards the planning room so that I could hear our mission. I stood at attention between East and Nevada as the director came into the room, the counselor at his heel like a dog on a leash.

"Hello agents, the counselor will be briefing you on a mission." He rambled off in his usual Texan accent. The counselor stepped out of the shadows .

"Hello agents," He started in his soothing voice "You will be split into two individual groups. Team A and B. Team A lead by agent Carolina will include agents Nevada, Oregon, Virginia and West Virginia. You four are a rescue squad, you will be entering, retrieving two VIP, and leaving with both of the VIPS unharmed, as well as none of you getting to seriously injured. Team B will be lead by agent Arkansas and will hold agents Florida and Massachusetts. You three will be planting explosives inside the Insurrectionist compound and once everyone is out, you will detonate said explosives. Massachusetts will explain the bombs you are using since she is our explosive specialist." He nodded towards the purple and blue armoured freelancer and she gave him a double thumbs up.

"I always love to end my missions with a bang!" She exclaimed receiving a low laughter from her fellow soldiers.

"This is not a time for jokes agent Massachusetts." Snapped the Director. I saw her look down at the floor.  
"Sorry sir." She muttered. He nodded curtly in her direction and the director stepped forwards again.

"You have fifteen minutes to prepare. Dismissed." He said as he turned around to face outer space. I turned to talk to West, I needed to speak to her. I walked over to West with determination. But of course, Carolina cut me off,

"Hey newbie, let's go. We've got fifteen minutes and I'm not going to be late because you want to talk to your rookie friends." She snapped then walked off with her helmet in her hand, dual SMGs on her hip and DMR on her back. I sighed and followed after her, I had everything besides my magnums and my SAW.

Once I was in the armoury I grabbed the my two magnums and threw my Sniper rifle on my back, the magnetic holster attached it to my back. I jogged towards the pelican bay and checked my visor's clock, four minutes. I sped up and turned my jog into a run then a sprint. Virginia jogged up behind me, and matched my pace, he had longer legs so he was able to catch up with me much easier and he was barely running where as I was running full tilt.

"Come on skipper gotta get to those pelicans before they take off." He commented as we ran together. I let out a huff that was supposed to be a laugh but sounded more like a grunt.

"I'm going… As… Fast as… I… can..!" I muttered trying to keep my breathing even. He grinned from under his unpolarized scout helmet and clicked a button on the side making it glaze over into the matte black visor I was so used to seeing. I couldn't help but grin as I put my blue and yellow helmet on. It limited my vision which made all my fighting, somewhat complicated. It wasn't the director's smartest decision, if the director had even made that decision. In the end the decision was made so it wasn't like I could have changed it.

"So who do you think our two 'VIPs' are?" I asked trying to keep a conversation going in anyway possible, I didn't want him to somehow find out I had been with his sister through some telepathic guilt waves. He let out a noise that I assumed meant 'I don't know'.

"Probably some general's, wife's, cousin's, dog's, old owners." He said through a voice thick with laughter and oncoming tiredness. We finally broke through the door that lead to the pelican hangar. I quickly took in my surrounding, Carolina was herding the other freelancers onto the pelican like a shepherd floating his sheep. I let out a quick laugh, I barely knew her because of how 'Important' she was, but I knew that was just how she was. I looked over at Virginia and nodded at him. He nodded back and we turned to walk towards the pelican. I felt Carolina's armoured hand on my own armoured back, giving me an extra shove up the ramp into the pelican. I added a spring to my step as I got into the pelican for real and sat down next to West and pulled the safety harness down. She looked at me and took her helmet off, motioning at me to do the same. With a small sigh I clicked the button pressurizing it then taking it off.

"Yeah?" I tried to play my nervousness of talking to her as nervousness for the mission though I doubt she even noticed it. She cocked her head to the side and grinned at me, not at all echoing my embarrassment.

"I just wanted to tell you that Penn suspects nothing." She winked at me and put her helmet on. I couldn't help but smile as I put my helmet on. Carolina walked into my view as the hangar door slowly closed and the engine of the pelican rumbled to life.

"Everyone strapped in?" _God she sounds like a mom making sure her kid and their friend are buckled up in a car._ I grinned at that though, imagining the scene.

"Yep," I called out, hearing the others in the pelican with me mutter in agreement. Carolina seemed pleased with the response and made her way to the cockpit to help copilot. A voice sprang to life from the overhead speakers.

"Welcome to 479er airlines, please keep your safety harness on until your nice captain lady tells you to take them off so you can jump out of this plane which will be going at about 550 miles per hour, but enough with the semantics! In air snacks will not be provided nor are they suggested. Enjoy your flight." With that there was a moment of static and the speakers shut off. Nevada let out a grunt.

"I just love pilot's." He grumbled, his voice echoing out over the radio leaving behind a new silence.

"So uh… How bout the match between Slipspace and Gilmore last night hey?" I muttered breaking the previous silence. Nevada immediately perked up.

"It was awesome!" Nevada was quite excited suddenly. Leaving behind his past spiteful attitude. "But that Gilmore rookie, Jackie, was totally using something, he was playing better than Slipspace's MVP!" I let out a low laugh,

"Maybe he's just better than the MVP!" I retorted with an equal amount of enthusiasm, how dare he accuse Jackie of cheating!

"There is no way he's better! Shakeem has been the MVP three season in a row! He's the best of the best! He's won two Grif cups for his team!" He roared back, I couldn't help but think that he looked like he was about to rip out of his harness.

"Hey! Enough back there! If you bash each other's brains in I have to clean it up!" 479er shouted over the speakers angrily. We settled down and she continued. "On a separate note, we're almost at your DZ, ETA five minutes." She cut off the speakers as Carolina walked back into the main chamber and out of the cockpit.

"Alright, settle down everyone." She exclaimed raising her voice unnecessarily since none of us were talking anymore. "West, you and Nevada, being the team's snipers will be in the building next to the one we're infiltrating to rescue the VIPs, you will be taking out any patrols that go near the building and covering our exit once we have the VIPs." She looked at Nevada and West. "Sync?" She said in a voice that was less of a question but more of an order. They nodded.

"Sync." They echoed simultaneously. Carolina turned to look at me and Virginia.

"You two will be with me, we will be clearing the building and retrieving the VIPs." She brought her wrist up and pressed a button making a holographic projection of the building and a blip that was beeping on the top floor. "We will be clearing the building floor by floor in stealth as not to alert the entire building. Sync?" She asked once again. We nodded and repeated her words.

"Sync." We repeated like robots.

"Good. Open the hangar up 9er!" She called towards the cockpit.

"Sure thing 'Lina." She responded as she lifted a hand to flip a switch which led to the hangar door opening.

"Jump on my mark!" Our number one called over the gale. I raised my harness and began to make my way over to the gaping hole. "3…. 2…. 1…. MARK!" She hollered and jumped out of the Pelican. I took a deep breath and ran towards the exit, letting the air pull me out of the pelican.

It was a rush, jumping out of planes at this velocity could always send a rush through you I suppose. I felt the air flowing through the unarmoured spots of my body. I couldn't help but grin as I bent myself forwards into a diving position. I saw West on my left and Virginia on my right moving into the same position. Looking back at the ground I saw the rooftop of where our snipers would be stationed drawing closer and closer.

"Landing positions!" Carolina radioed in to us.

I brought my arms into a tuck and hit the roof with a roll. I stood up and groaned, rubbing my shoulders. The landing always sucked, but I suppose someone landing a bullet on you sucks more. I shook off the pain and unclipped one of my magnums from my side.  
"I'll check the floor below us." I volunteered, Carolina nodded at me.

"Go ahead." She responded taking out her own SMGs and checking them. I jogged towards a ladder that I guessed lead to the top floor. I slid down the ladder with my magnum in my hand and jumped off once I was near the floor, quickly scanning the general area. _No one here. Good._ After checking all the corners of the floor I reported in.

"It's clear, you four can come in and West and Nevada you two can set up your sniper nest." I put my magnum at my side as I saw Carolina's blue-green foot beginning to come down the ladder.

After everyone was down the ladder Virginia walked over to me and gruffly pulled me away from the group.

"I need to talk to you when we get back to the MoI." His joking demeanor from before we boarded the pelican was gone. I gulped down panic, he knew about me and West, it was the only explanation. _Fuck!_ I nodded.

"You two ready?" I could tell she was grinning, "Time to jump out of a building." I let out a silent groan and noded.

"Alright let's do this." I cracked my neck and walked towards a window. I jolted my elbow into the window causing it to crack outwards. I put my feet onto the window sill and jumped out. Oh yeah, nothing like jumping out of a fifty story building to wake you up in the middle of a mission.


	4. 4: Pyro Maniacs

**AN: Hello everyone, sorry this is such a short chapter. I wanted to get it out and I liked the way I ended it on a note of suspense.**

I landed once again in a roll that sent a shockwave of dull pain through my bones. Carolina landed next to me sending cracks similar to the ones I had left in the pavement.

"Alright team, prepare to move in. Virginia, take my right. Oregon take the left." She snapped the orders through the radio. "Sync?"

"Sync." We responded in unision.

"Move in soldiers." I moved to her left and pulled out my magnum and nudged Carolina, gesturing for a silencer. She unclipped one from her belt and tossed it to me. After catching it I quickly screwed it onto my magnum as Carolina tried to open the front door of the building. I turned around catching one last glimpse of the barrel of our eyes in the sky. The Blue-Green soldier bent down on one knee to pick the simple earth styled lock. I heard a click as the lock sprang open. "Maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary." She kicked the door inwards and the three of us jumped in covering our assigned areas. Two men in standard red and black Insurrectionist armour were standing near a staircase. Even with the visor covering their eyes I could feel the surprise radiating off them. I ran forwards and shot the one on the left in the throat causing a gurgling noise to escape his throat. Three years ago that sound would have made me drop to my knees and vomit. I jumped towards the last soldier, my foot outstretched. It connected with his skull. The force and strength of my reinforced boot sent him into the wall causing it to crack and his skull gave a sickening crack and he slumped forwards and fell to the floor. I turned around and saw Carolina picking up a gun that a insurrectionist in enhanced armour was wearing. It was the size of an assault rifle. She looked at it curiously and shot the wall. A red laser shot out of the cannon that we thought was a gun. I could tell she was grinning as she put it on her back, the magnetic holster on his back letting out a _swoom_ sound.

"Nice cannon," Virginia's voice rang with jealousy, "To bad the counselor will make you give it to the lab." He chuckled and we regrouped in front of the stairs where the men I took out had been stationed. We looked at her expectantly. She unpolarized her gold visor and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Let's go! Move!" She snapped at us expectantly as she raised her hand to polarise her visor once again.

I let out a sigh and turned to the stairs and began jogging up them. There was a door at the end of the staircase. I kicked it open, the door flew inwards and crushed one of the men standing by the door. I grabbed the other man who was on my left by the neck with one hand and the leg with the other. I brought my knee up and slammed him down upon it. The feeling of his bones snapping sent a shiver through me, I couldn't help but feel the feeling. Even after three years of being a brute for the UNSC now five months of Project Freelancer, it felt horrible but good at the same time. I turned and saw another one of the innies raise his DMR. I threw the ragdoll corpse at him which sent him sprawling backwards. _So much for stealth._ I thought to myself. I let out a low growl and ran into the room. I heard a shout,

"Hey! Stop right there and put your hands up!" The innie shouted, his voice shaking. I turned towards him, he was barely two feet away. I towered over him and almost felt bad for him. _Almost_. My large hand shot out and snaked around his throat. He dropped his gun and gasped in fear, clawing at my metallic gloves with his own leather ones. His attempts proved fruitless as I squeezed, crushing the cartilage. I dropped his now lifeless corpse. I whipped around to crush my newest challenger but it was only Carolina. She fired one last shot which sent an insurrectionist to the ground. Virginia did the same, bringing down Carolina's kill's friend.

I hadn't realised how heavily I was breathing, or the fact that my vision was tinted red on the edges. I put my hand against the wall and bent over, catching my breath. Carolina strode over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on big guy. We gotta keep moving." I detected a note of sympathy in her tone but I couldn't be sure. I nodded and took my SAW off my back. I didn't want to use my hands anymore. I didn't want to go crazy again. I wanted to be normal, happy non crazy, Oregon. Not the psychotic, raging, angry, Oregon. "Let's go. We've got a lot more floors to go."

Fifty two floors later we were on the second highest floor, well third if you included the roof. I was pretty banged up. My right shin guard was the worst. But my actual shin was worse, the skin was gone where the armour had been taken off by a grenade, not only was skin missing, a chunk of my bone was gone. It hurt like a bitch when I stepped but it could be worse. I could have lost my leg. I had decided to ignore it as much as I could.

"Alright you two, our VIPs are _supposed_ to be on the next floor." Our number one rattled on in her usual bossy tone. She brought up her holographic map once again. "As you can see here," She pointed at a boxed off part of the 55th floor. "There is a cellar type room. It is made of titanium. As you can imagine, titanium is quite strong. Virginia we need your adept lock picking skills to open the cellar. Me and Oregon will cover you while you do it, we'll take out all the soldiers." She finished as she shut off her holographic map. "Let's finish this mission." We nodded and knocked our guns together as a sign of trust and headed towards the staircase that would lead to what could be the end of our career. Then again, we were soldiers. Anything we did could be the end of our career. Carolina took the lead, I followed up quickly after and Virginia took up the rear. I was slightly nervous that he was behind me. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, but the way he acted when we first arrived worried me. What if when push came to shove, Virginia didn't have his back? What if he let Oregon take a hit…? I was shaken out of my train of thought when I crashed into Carolina. She turned around, I could feel the irritation radiating off of her.

"What are you doing." She snarled, I looked down.

"S-Sorry," I muttered. "Got lost in my thoughts." She shook her head.

"We're at a very critical point in the mission, pay attention." She snapped. I nodded and brought my SAW back up, I had two clips left for my SAW, and three for my remaining magnum.

"Let's save us some important people." I muttered. She nodded and kicked the door in raising her dual SMGs. Gunfire sounded off instantly, bullets embedded themselves in the door and doorframe near Carolina. Once again I couldn't help but thank the fact that these Innies had the aim of a storm trooper. The blue-ish green soldier bent down and rolled forwards to avoid the gunfire that I doubt would have hit our number one anyways. She sprang up and slammed the butts of her guns under the chins of two men. They flew back into more soldiers. I ran in with my SAW, shooting down our enemies as if they were planks of wood instead of trained marines.

"Virginia move up! Get to work on that damn lock!" She ordered running back to cover him. I ran towards the door clearing a path for the two of them. They quickly ran in beside me and Virginia bent down in front of the lock on the door that led to the cell.  
"How long's that gonna take Virg?" I muttered, we were keeping them at bay but they were quickly gaining numbers and they would soon be overwhelmed. "Cause we haven't got much time!" As if to emphasise my point an insurrectionist in orange and black ran at me with an axe. I shot him square in the chest and he flew back slightly. Damnit. Down to my last SAW Clip. I turned around to check on Virginia and noticed a soldier in Orange and black, similar to the one that had ran up to me was holding a machete, and it was about to slam right into her neck.  
"CAROLI-"

 _BANG._ Blood splurted out through the front of their helmet and their body slumped against Carolina making her sag forwards at the unexpected weight.

"I got you 'Lina." Nevada had tuned into their channel to check in, "You three looked like you needed some assistance." I nodded, which I had a feeling he could see.

"We did, thanks Nev." I responded, I doubt Carolina wanted to thank him but she did,

"Thanks Nevada." She muttered in a grudgeful tone. I could almost feel him smirking as we continued to shoot down the enemy soldiers.

"Got it!" Virginia exclaimed as he stood up and kicked the door open.

A man and a woman were huddled in the corner covering their faces. Carolina stepped forwards, full leader mode. Me and Virginia ran in after her taking cover beside the door.

"Hello Colonel Andersmith, Miss Jonson. My name is Agent Carolina. I'm with Project Freelancer." She put her hand out and let out an exasperated sigh, "We're here to rescue you." The Colonel, Andersmith nodded and stepped forwards shaking her hand.

"Very well." He responded in a french accent. "We thank you." The lady at his side clutched his arm.  
"Oui, oui. Merci Beaucoup." The lady murmured under her breath, she was obviously freaked out. My helmet gave me a translation.

' _Yes, yes. Thank you.'_ I smiled, the translation feature that Pennsylvania had installed was totally worth my armour locking in a training simulation when someone patted my shoulder.

"Carolina, You three need to get out of there _now._ There is a troop of thirty soldiers heading into the building as we speak. They're being led by two incendiaries. Get out of there now!" West shouted over the coms, I muttered a slur of curses that would have gotten be expelled from Lakeside middle school.

"Oregon you take up the rear make sure no one is getting shot besides those innies!" She turned to Virginia, "You're with me, in front of them making sure they have a path to the roof." She turned away and looked at me, shoving a finger onto my chest. "This is an important job." She snapped, "Don't screw this up." She turned away and radio'd in 479er.

"9er we need Evac NOW! Get down here!" She snapped.

"Roger that 'Lina." She replied curtly, "ETA ten minutes max." Carolina nodded.  
"Let's go guys we've got a plane to catch." I turned towards the VIPs and ushered them in front of me. Virginia kicked the door open and ran out of the room, spraying the innies in front of him with his shotgun. We stormed out of the room and I finished off my SAW's final clip. I slammed the butt into an approaching innie's face before discarding it and grabbing my magnum.  
"We've got to hurry up!" I shouted, we were making progress but it wasn't going fast enough. At the rate we were going, I'd be out of ammunition before we got to the ladder to the roof. I shot approaching innies down as we slowly made our way across the room. I turned my back to the VIPs to take out any enemies that were behind us. I barely had time to register the fist heading straight for my face. It connected making me stumble back slightly but not enough to make me knock into our two French victims. I ducked again as the man in front of me, who was wearing black and yellow armour swung another punch. I dived forwards tackling him from his legs which knocked him off his feet. After climbing on top of him I began raining him with punches.

"Carolina I don't have the rear! Get behind there and cover them!" I snarled as I continued smashing my super powered fists into his visor. The glass quickly began to shatter and blood made it's way onto the visor. I hadn't even realized he was no longer struggling, he was dead but I couldn't help but smash my fists into his stupid face. As I got off I felt a searing sharp pain lance through my shoulder as a bullet shot through it. I fell onto the corps of the man I had just killed. I let out a groan and rolled onto my back, off the body. A man in armour was standing above me with a flame thrower. He stepped on my injured leg, breaking the previously splintered bone. I let out a guttural scream that resembled the sound of a bear being killed. I barely had time to scream for help as he unleashed the full wrath of his flamethrower in to my face. I breathed inwards and shuddered in pain as I inhaled the fire that was quickly melting through my armour. I was seeing red but it wasn't from the fire, it was pain. I closed my eyes hopping it would be over quickly. Suddenly the flames stopped, of course the pain didn't but the constant pressure was no longer on me. I opened my eyes and saw a blue green blur knocking the inferno man to the ground. I groaned and stood up. We had people to protect, regardless of our pain. I trudged my way over to Virginia and the VIPs and began fighting the innies off with my fists and feet since I had discarded my magnum awhile back. I groaned in pain as another bullet entered through my stomach. I groaned, at least my wounds from before were cauterized. I coughed and looked at my visor.

 _Blood_

The bullet had punctured my lung, my lungs would fill with blood in less than five minutes and I would drown. I was going to die unless I got medical attention soon. I gasped for air.

"W-We need to get out of here _soon_ or else I'm going to die. On the bright side, my body would be a great human shield." I commed in.

"Alright Ore, don't get too excited, you're almost there." Nevada commented. I let out a huff which quickly turned into a bone rattling cough. More blood on my visor, it was already hard to see from the scorch marks from the Pyro. The blood was just adding to the darkness which wasn't just coming from the visor. The Colonel turned around and picked up a magnum from the corpse of an Innie soldier. He looked at me.  
"Go to the roof, we will be okay from here." He said, a note of sympathy in his thick french accent. I shook my head.

"This is my duty, sir. I've got to protect you." I knew I sounded like the classic 'White knight' hero, but I honestly wanted to run to that ladder and hide, but I couldn't. I chose this line of work.

"Agent Oregon, I insiste. We are almost there, but you need to get to that Pelican." He ushered me infront of him, I was getting light headed. I nodded and stumbled towards the ladder. After taking a few moments to climb the ladder I ripped my scorched, melted, helmet off and gasped in the fresh air. It just didn't seem to be working, I was gulping in the air but it just felt like I was swallowing hot water. I was drowning in my own blood. I stumbled towards the middle of the roof where the pelican was slowly landing to pick us up. 479er finally touched down onto the roof and opened the hangar door. I quickly glanced over to the roof where West and Nevada were supposed to be waiting. A shot of panic shot through me. I entered the Pelican and saw them strapped in their harness. It felt as if the floor was moving under me, maybe the pelican was moving. I looked out the pelican and saw that we were still grounded, well so much for that. I went to take a step towards a seat and the floor rose up towards my face. My nose connected with the floor and blood began streaming from my nose. I coughed and blood splattered onto the pelican floor.

My vision began to turn fuzzy and my hearing was beginning to fail. I could scarcely see a yellow emergency light blaring and I felt myself get rolled onto my back. I groaned and let my eyes close shut as I slipped into unconsciousness.


End file.
